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To trust or not to trust?

We're all different and some people do really well with their own food balance. Lifestyle, other health issues and medication, expectations and (dare I say it?) psychology all play a part.
 
Non alcoholic fatty liver disease is a major cause of type 2 diabetes symptoms.

There are also other reasons, of course. But for those who have fatty livers, removing the fat may (there are no certainties) return the person to below their personal fat limit. At which point, their body ceases to show type 2 symptoms.

Weight loss is the answer, but i am not aware of a technique that will shed visceral fat instead of subcutaneous fat.

If you want to know whether you have a fatty liver, your doc can do blood tests.

You can also read up on the Newcastle Diet (a very low calorie diet) which was designed to reverse type 2 by shedding visceral fat (in those whose T2 was caused by visceral fat). But Professor Taylor who created the method has said that it isnt his method, or the speed of the weight loss, that makes it work. Rather, it is the simple fact of dropping fat levels below the individual's personal fat limit.

Unfortunately, everyone's personal fat limit is unique to them, and will vary, depending on their age, activity level, fitness, muscle and fat proportions... So there is no guarantee that keeping to a certain (apparently healthy) weight will mean that the t2 symptoms wont re-emerge at some time in the future.
 
DeejayR said:
We're all different and some people do really well with their own food balance. Lifestyle, other health issues and medication, expectations and (dare I say it?) psychology all play a part.
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Thanks Deejay,

Yes I totally agree; It seems like for every person advocating one thing, there is another with a counter opinion. I'm just a newbie struggling to process all this info and do what is best to keep my body healthy. It sounds like it's a very individual thing and the only way I'll really find what puts me in the best of health is experimentation.
 
Brunneria said:
Non alcoholic fatty liver disease is a major cause of type 2 diabetes symptoms.

There are also other reasons, of course. But for those who have fatty livers, removing the fat may (there are no certainties) return the person to below their personal fat limit. At which point, their body ceases to show type 2 symptoms.

Weight loss is the answer, but i am not aware of a technique that will shed visceral fat instead of subcutaneous fat.

If you want to know whether you have a fatty liver, your doc can do blood tests.

You can also read up on the Newcastle Diet (a very low calorie diet) which was designed to reverse type 2 by shedding visceral fat (in those whose T2 was caused by visceral fat). But Professor Taylor who created the method has said that it isnt his method, or the speed of the weight loss, that makes it work. Rather, it is the simple fact of dropping fat levels below the individual's personal fat limit.

Unfortunately, everyone's personal fat limit is unique to them, and will vary, depending on their age, activity level, fitness, muscle and fat proportions... So there is no guarantee that keeping to a certain (apparently healthy) weight will mean that the t2 symptoms wont re-emerge at some time in the future.
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Thanks Brunneria,

You seem to be exceptionally well versed in this stuff, I'm very impressed. I had seen the article you mentioned a couple of months ago but I hadn't picked up on the personal fat limit concept so I'm definitely going to research that as it seem that it would be applicable to my low BMI.
 
Lol

I've just hung around the forum for a while.

You will be amazed at the speed you pick up info if you do the same. :D
 
Captain Glucose said:
Thanks to you both, that's really insightful. I really appreciate that everyone has taken the time to provide such detailed reponses to my questions.

Andrew, I'll definitely test out different carbs and give some brown rice a go. I feel a bit like a mad scientist experimenting on myself at the moment but it really is fascinating to understand the mechanics of how food is affecting my body. Brunella also mentioned about food intolerance potentially affecting things; do you know if that would have a significant impact on blood sugar levels in your experience?

Brunella, could I ask a couple of quick questions regarding what you've mentioned; when you say that type 2s often carry more weight, is it possible that I may be what I believe is termed "skinny fat" where much of my fat is visceral and distributed around my organs rather than my stomach/legs etc. Basically if I am this body type, I'd love to know how to loose this inner fat without dropping too much weight; I'm guessing a gradual increase in exercise and reduction in carbs will go some way to helping though.

Finally, I wonder if either of you or anyone else knows about whether having a fatty liver may be of significance in regards to how well the body utilities insulin? Several of my family members on my mums side have suffered from that and I have wondered whether the past few years of me gorging myself on huge amounts of carbs may have aided in the development of such an issue, contributing to how quickly my body uses the insulin that is released? Not sure if I have that right or not though?
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Yep be that mad scientist it is what you need to do to get a reasonable understanding. If you are intolerant then it depends how you gut handles the food. It could dump the glucose so yes it could have an effect. I am intolerant to bananas and it causes my pancreas issues and my insulin response becomes affected for about 2 weeks after eating one. took me 2 years to work this out.

Yes you could be skinny fat and yes it would cause insulin resistance but there is an easy question. When you lie on your back does your stomach sink? The best way to lose any inner fat that I have found is to use a starvation diet. You can shake it in a couple of weeks but if you have a normal hba1c then I expect you do not have a fatty liver. Fatty Liver is the first stage and is often caused by excess carbs especially fructose.
 
Andrew Colvin said:
Yep be that mad scientist it is what you need to do to get a reasonable understanding. If you are intolerant then it depends how you gut handles the food. It could dump the glucose so yes it could have an effect. I am intolerant to bananas and it causes my pancreas issues and my insulin response becomes affected for about 2 weeks after eating one. took me 2 years to work this out.

Yes you could be skinny fat and yes it would cause insulin resistance but there is an easy question. When you lie on your back does your stomach sink? The best way to lose any inner fat that I have found is to use a starvation diet. You can shake it in a couple of weeks but if you have a normal hba1c then I expect you do not have a fatty liver. Fatty Liver is the first stage and is often caused by excess carbs especially fructose.
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When you say it could dump the glucose, do you mean that an intolerance would cause a rapid absorption of the food and quickly put it into my blood as glucose or is it that any intolerance would be sensed by my body and the liver would release its glucose in lieu of being able to extract sufficient energy from what is in my stomach? Sorry for all the questions but I really want to understand the way this all comes together to create an issue.

Congrats on figuring out the intolerance to bananas; I'm sure that I probably do have things that disagree with me but there are so few occasions that I sit down to a single foodstuff that I wouldn't know where to begin. This said though, my carby oat fest brekkie is certainly sounding like a good start. Think I'll treat myself to a full English tomorrow; it's been years since I've enjoyed one of those!
 
No I mean the gut could be over sensitive to the food stuff that it over-absorbs and therefore your rapid rise. Of course it could just be the morning and you are eating 75g of oats.
 
Hi. I also have a good fasting glucose at around 4.6 but tend to spike after meals. The biggest since I started using a meter was 7.5 at one hour after a meal where it stayed for 2 hours before coming down. I started using a meter and testing with meals after getting a high HBA1c result of 47 (1 point off being diagnosed diabetic). After getting over freaking out about the result and drastically changing my diet I am going back to the docs to ask for a glucose intolerance test - from what I've read these give a better idea of how your body handles glucose. I am new to all this but it might be worth asking for this from the doc too. Also: I have porridge for breakfast but am **** at measuring so I now use the preprepared sachets and haven't had a spike at one hour more than 6.3 with this meal.
 
Andrew Colvin said:
No I mean the gut could be over sensitive to the food stuff that it over-absorbs and therefore your rapid rise. Of course it could just be the morning and you are eating 75g of oats.
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Got it, thanks Andrew. I'll definitely look into that further as I've noticed that sometimes my stomach feels more iffy after eating certain things; I just have to find that pattern.
 
Cate1234 said:
Hi. I also have a good fasting glucose at around 4.6 but tend to spike after meals. The biggest since I started using a meter was 7.5 at one hour after a meal where it stayed for 2 hours before coming down. I started using a meter and testing with meals after getting a high HBA1c result of 47 (1 point off being diagnosed diabetic). After getting over freaking out about the result and drastically changing my diet I am going back to the docs to ask for a glucose intolerance test - from what I've read these give a better idea of how your body handles glucose. I am new to all this but it might be worth asking for this from the doc too. Also: I have porridge for breakfast but am **** at measuring so I now use the preprepared sachets and haven't had a spike at one hour more than 6.3 with this meal.
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Hi Cate,

Yes, frustrating isn't it! I'm still waiting to find out exactly what the numbers from my Hba1c result are and whether I'm close to diabetic or not. I've definitely been over eating but this is mainly because I'm slim and worry about wasting away. I am now getting used to putting less calories into my body, especially at breakfast. One thing my sore fingers will attest to is that it's easy to get a bit too into testing, which for me can provoke a little anxiety, hoping everything is going to be OK. What I've realised is that while often things follow a logical pattern there are always wacky numbers that throw it all off.

I too had thought about a glucose tolerance test and even went so far as considering getting a GAD/islet antibody test to make sure I'm not at the beginning of type 1/LADA, due to my slim frame. But then I think that if it hadn't been for my chance conversation with a diabetic neighbour I'd have had no idea about my levels spiking and would still be dutifully eating 150g bowls of oats, so anything I do from now on will be a squillion times better than before. I think once I've established what food and exercise regime is best for my blood sugar I'll keep at it for a few months and then reevaluate.

This morning I'm having a go at 30g oats, some plain yogurt, nuts and seeds as some posters on here have recommended.

Will let you know the results.
 
Well that breakfast took me from 4.1 to 6.8 at 1 hour, then 6.1 at 90 minutes, so much better. I'd imagine my 2 hour would be around 5.5 ish. After walking at moderate pace for an hour I was down to 3.8 and had to have a banana and some nuts to feel energized again and was back to 4.8 in 15 minutes.

I either seem to be high or low but rarely in the middle unless I eat protein/fat and am sedentary, thus being able to predict a long slow release.

If I'm exercising afterwards is it fine to eat a more carby breakfast if I burn it off straight away, Steve Redgrave stylie, or would it be more beneficial to workout after protein/fats?
 
If you find small portions of carbs give you good bg levels, and larger portions give you high levels, then that is half the work done. Just keep your portions small enough to keep your bg down.

Re exercise (not my area of expertise!). If you want to fuel exercise on protein, then @tim2000s is your man. If you want to fuel exercise on fat, then you need to research nutritional ketosis. If you want to keep with the carbs, then that is an area about which i know nothing.

:)
 
Brunneria said:
If you find small portions of carbs give you good bg levels, and larger portions give you high levels, then that is half the work done. Just keep your portions small enough to keep your bg down.

Re exercise (not my area of expertise!). If you want to fuel exercise on protein, then @tim2000s is your man. If you want to fuel exercise on fat, then you need to research nutritional ketosis. If you want to keep with the carbs, then that is an area about which i know nothing.

:)
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It seems that lowering my carbs is working for me. I do enjoy oats/bread but I've found the last few days of monitoring my blood sugar has been really enlightening and it has given me a great headstart on getting to grips with keeping everything in check. I'll definitely contact tim2000 as you suggest and try to work out the best plan going forward.

It's crazy really because I haven't exercised properly for years and after 1 week of eating better and walking more, my body is feeling much better and less stressed overall. My skin and stomach are also feeling a lot better.

I have felt a little more tired, probably as I'm fueling my body in a different way with less carbs and more protein/fat, but I'm assuming it will adapt to this new regime in time.

Thanks again.
 
Carbs too excess is probably a factor in fatty liver.
While you probably aren't diabetic (yet), I think you are right too be careful and change your diet.
I had numbers slightly better than yours, and I paid privately myself to get a glucose tolerance test. It showed that I'm prediabetic and close to the the limit for diabetes.
In the glucose tolerance test, you drink 50 g of glucose and your venous blood sugar is measured after two hours. Mine was 10.1. Normal is below 7.8, and above 11.1 is diabetes.
 
Rillum said:
Carbs too excess is probably a factor in fatty liver.
While you probably aren't diabetic (yet), I think you are right too be careful and change your diet.
I had numbers slightly better than yours, and I paid privately myself to get a glucose tolerance test. It showed that I'm prediabetic and close to the the limit for diabetes.
In the glucose tolerance test, you drink 50 g of glucose and your venous blood sugar is measured after two hours. Mine was 10.1. Normal is below 7.8, and above 11.1 is diabetes.
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Well that gets me thinking. This was something I was considering and in light of that it may be worth giving it a go to be sure. What was your fasting number?
 
My fasting blood sugar is between 4.9 and 5.1 mmol/l.
 
Rillum said:
My fasting blood sugar is between 4.9 and 5.1 mmol/l.
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So even though my fasting is between 4.1 and 4.5, do you feel the critical factor is the disparity between this and the spike when I consume carbs/sugars? Also, what time of the day did you do the GTT and did you have cause to get an antibody test to check for type 1.5/LADA as this is something that concerns me due to my youngish age and low BMI/physique.

Other posters on this topic have already given me excellent advice so really I'm keen to fully understand and tackle anything super early before it develops, as sounds like you were too having paid privately to investigate further. In truth I did feel my doctor was a little dismissive in spite of the fact that he's a decent bloke.
 
I feel the critical factor is postprandial blood sugar, which is blood sugar after meals. It has been shown to be more predictive of future diabetes than fasting blood sugar. Fasting blood sugar is the last to rise.
 
The OGGT has to be done in a lab and is usually done in the morning, as you have to fast overnight.

I did not get checked for LADA. It's pretty clear that my main problem is low muscle mass and poor fitness exacerbated by visceral fat.

I also know that I've been tested as prediabetic before and reversed it through diet (and then foolishly ignored it). So it's very unlikely to be LADA.
 
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